


Boyfriends, actually.

by pinklesbian



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Self-Discovery, Sexuality Crisis, i'm bad at tags? how do u do this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:32:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1981335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinklesbian/pseuds/pinklesbian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>rei "no homo" ryugazaki</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boyfriends, actually.

**Author's Note:**

> haha ok so i havent actually written anything in like...... a long time, so this is probably really bad, i'm sorry, dont hate me, bye

Rin hoists himself up over the edge of Samezuka's swimming pool and sits with his feet in the water. "Oi, Glasses," he calls to Rei, who is digging through his bag near the wall, "what time is it?" 

"9:23," Rei replies, seemingly unfazed by the nickname. 

"Ah, shit," Rin groans. "If I'm late again, Ai will kill me. He's insisting that we have a movie night, like, every weekend."

Rei smiles in response. "You and Nitori-san are really close friends, aren't you?"

Rin tilts his head backwards to look at Rei and raises an eyebrow. "Boyfriends, actually." 

Rei, surprised, drop the water bottle he was holding. "You... You're gay?" he asks, eyes wide in shock. Rin pulls his legs out of the pool and rises to his feet.

"Tch. Ai is. I'm bi, though. Is this really a surprise to you?" 

"I-I just... I mean, I've never met someone who's... well, you know!" Rei sputters, his face growing redder than before. At that, Rin barks out a laugh. When Rei looks confused, Rin stops.

"Wait, you're serious? Aren't  _you_ gay?" 

Rei looks horrified. "W-What! I-- No! I like girls!" 

Rin laughs again, and shakes his head. "Whatever you say. I've gotta get going, though, so hurry up so I can lock the doors."

Rei hurries and puts his jacket on, trying very hard to fight down the flush covering his face and neck. 

* * *

Rei stands with Haru and Makoto, waiting for the bus to arrive. It was just the three of them at practice today, since Nagisa had to stay after school to make up a test and Kou had the flu. 

They stand in silence for a while, too tired to carry on a normal conversation, until the thought that had been eating at Rei's mind finally bursts out of his mouth.

"Did you know that Rin-san is gay?"

They both turn to him. Makoto raises his eyebrows at the sudden question, and Haru just blinks. 

"Isn't it strange to know that you're friends with someone who's... ah, you know?" Rei feels his face getting warm.

Haru and Makoto stare at Rei, then turn to look at each other. Makoto starts to say, "Rei, Haru and I--" but Haru interrupts him by saying, "Rei,  _you're_ gay." 

Makoto says, "Eh?"

Rei says, "What are you talking about?!" in a very defensive manner. 

There's a moment of silence. Makoto breaks it by gently asking, "Well, you are, aren't you?"

"O-Of course not! Why would you think that?!"

Haru and Makoto look at one another again. Makoto starts to talk but is once again interrupted by Haru's blunt, "Nagisa."

Rei's eyes go wide. "Na... Nagisa-kun?" The older boys look expectantly at him. 

"Did Nagisa-kun tell you that I like boys?!"

Makoto sighs. "Never mind, Rei. Look, here's the bus."

As the three boys board the bus, Rei fails to notice that his teammates are holding hands.

* * *

The following morning, Nagisa greets Rei as usual, by clinging to his arm. Instead of responding with the normal "Good morning, Nagisa-kun," however, Rei says something different.

"Do you think I like boys?"

Nagisa freezes. "...Eh?" He feels his face grow warm for some reason. "That's not really my business, is it, Rei-chan?" he says, voice wavering slightly.

"Well, I don't," Rei says, not sounding as sure of himself as he would have liked.

Nagisa steps back from the other boy. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because for some reason Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai have got it in their heads that I do."

"Oh," sighs Nagisa. Then, in his best Smart-Rei-Voice, "Maybe you should reexamine some of your behaviors and attempt to figure out what made them think that." Rei thinks there might be a hopeful look in his eye when he says this, but it was probably just his imagination.

Rei rolls his eyes and the pair of boys continues walking to school.

* * *

That night, while he lays in bed, Rei thinks about what Nagisa said. He didn't particularly think he exhibited any gay behaviors, but then again, he didn't think "gay behaviors" were really a thing that existed. 

Sure, he appreciated the male body, but from an athletic standpoint, that was normal. Sure, he never really paid much attention to the girls in his class, but he was too focused on his studies for that. Sure, he sometimes checked out Nagisa's butt and sometimes he thought about what it would be like to hold his hand, but-- wait, what. 

As he ponders this, he realizes that most of his daydreams about the future are centered around Nagisa--the two of the going to university together, sharing an apartment, ordering gross takeout food and watching movies that only Nagisa wanted to watch... 

Rei realized that this was starting to sound really, really gay. The more he thought about his friend, the more he realized that he  _didn't_ like girls, but he did like...

Ugh.

Rei rolls over and tries to suffocate himself with his pillow.

* * *

Haru wakes up the next morning to knocking on his door, and since Makoto rarely knocks anymore, he figures it's probably someone else. He roll out of bed and finds a shirt to put on, then lazily makes his way to the front door. He opens it wordlessly, finding Rei standing on the other side.

"Haruka-senpai, I'm sorry to be here so early, but I seem to be having a crisis."

Haru blinks.

"I think I'm in love with Nagisa-kun," Rei admits, sounding terrified.

Haru sighs. "Rei, I know. Everyone knows."

"Huh?"

"You're not subtle. I have a question, though," he says, leaning against the door frame. "Why are you telling me this, and not Nagisa?"

Rei looks down at his feet, not saying anything. Haru sighs again. "I'm going back to sleep." He closes the door, and Rei continues to stand there, head down.

* * *

That afternoon, when Nagisa sends Rei a text asking him to, "go to the mall with meee ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ," Rei ignores his nervousness and agrees. He rides his bike to Nagisa's house, where one of his older sisters opens the door. From another room in the house, Rei hears, "Is that my Rei-chan?!" and soon Nagisa is rounding the corner with his shoes in his hands. "So quick!" Nagisa remarks. "Usually it takes like an hour for you to agree to go somewhere with me!" He smiles up at Rei while he slides his feet into his shoes. "Let's go!"

The bus ride to the mall is quiet and a little awkward while Rei gathers his thoughts and his courage. As soon as they step off the bus, Nagisa turns to Rei and asks if he's feeling alright. 

Rei swallows. "Actually, I have something to tell you." Nagisa looks up at him, surprised. 

Rei takes a deep breath, then everything rushes out at once. "Nagisa-kun I know that the other day I said I didn't like boys but I have come to the conclusion that I was mistaken and that I do like one boy in particular and what I'm trying to say is that I have feelings for you Na--"

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa cries, interrupting the other boy. He jumps up and wraps his arms around Rei's neck. "I like you too, dummy, okay?"

Rei's hands find Nagisa's waist and he smiles and remembers then to breathe again. Before he can say anything else, Nagisa gasps.

"This is like our first date! How cute, ahh..." He jumps back and takes Rei's hand, leading him towards the front entrance of the mall. "Rei-chan, buy me things!"

* * *

The next time Iwatobi and Samezuka have a joint practice, Rin notices Rei staring lovingly at Nagisa more than he usually does. When he sees the blonde boy stand up on his toes to kiss Rei on the cheek before heading into the locker room, he grins. 

"Yo," he calls to get Rei's attention. He sidles up to his underclassman and hums. "Looks like you and Nagisa are pretty close friends, huh?"

Rei blushes a deep red, but smiles.

 

 

"Boyfriends, actually." 


End file.
